Original species: The Shaltszs

Here's is an original species I created for my character in the forum game GMed by Sea Tyger. Everyone is of course welcome to use it or comment it at will (including correcting the probable english mistakes).

The Shaltszs

PERSONALITY: The Shaltszs are a hyperactive, ever-moving species, with a lust for wander, and a difficulty to focus their attention on the same subject for a lengthy period of time.

PHYSIOLOGY & APPEARANCE: The Shaltszs are medium-sized humanoids, ranging in height between 1.6 and 1.8 meters. They are somewhat bulkier than other humanoids species, with wider shoulders and body. Their complexion varies from orange to red. Their faces are larger and rounder, with deep-set, small eyes, whose pupil is smaller than other species, making them used to a higher light intensity than most humanoids. Their internal physiology bears no other significant specificities.
The most notable part of the Shaltszs physiology is their shorter biorhythm: they are used to 12-hours long days, meaning they tire twice as fast as most humanoids, but need half their time to rest: a Shaltszs's definition of a good night is a 4 hours long sleep. Their average life-span is 60 to 70 years.
The Shaltszs apparently evolved from a rodent-like species, and from it they inherited a mind constantly on the lookout for change, to the point of having trouble to focus for a lengthy period of time. This, added to their faster biorhythm, makes them seem positively restless compared to other species.

HOMEWORLD: The Shaltszs homeworld, named Shalt, is a small planet orbiting a Type-B star. The planet's rotation period is a little less than 12 hours, and the gravity is 0.8 G. The landmass is rather equally distributed, meaning there are no real oceans, but instead a lot of seas and archipelagos entwined with larger islands. The climate is temperate. Because of its sun's size and brightness, the atmosphere tends to be extremely luminous. Shalt has no moon, and its system counts only 4 tellurian planets (one of which is a charred planetoid orbiting close to the sun), Shalt being the furthest from their sun; the rest of the planets are gas giants, the closer of which can easily be seen from Shalt at night and illuminates the sky like a very small moon (it can reach roughly twice or thrice the size of Venus as seen from Earth).

HISTORY: The Shaltszs life has always been nomadic; Shaltszs roamed the land in groups of varying size, frequently exchanging members between different groups at a whim. Only very old or crippled Shaltszs remained for some time at the same place, though some of them preferred to be carried along by their groupmates or die rather than stay in the same place with nothing to do. Travels being so important for the Shaltszs, domestication of riding animals was discovered very early in their development; on the other hand, agriculture and catering took much more time to spread. The Shaltszs society evolved without the founding of any city, nation, or empire; because of the lack of any such federating group, full-scale wars were unknown, although the occasional skirmish between two groups could happen. However, the constant exchange of members from one group to another made long term grudges difficult to hold, and, most of the time, a dissenting Shaltszs tends to move away rather than stay and argue. The constant moving of the Shaltszs ensured a homogenization of their culture, and the different local dialects were soon merged into a single language (though with some specificities, see below). The drawback was a very slow and erratic development, especially since the Shaltszs habit of constantly switching their focus of interest made any long-term research problematic.

When evolution brought the need of fixed structures (for instance, for mining or ore-processing), the Shaltszs didn't leave their nomadic ways. Instead, they kept moving, discarding and reclaiming structures as needed. After a while, a rather extended, if scattered, collection of various building littered the land, ranging from the small hut to a complex forge, or, later, hydro-electric dam; their inhabitants however, often changed. A group of Shaltszs would typically claim such a building, repair it if needed, use it for some time, and leave it for other Shaltszs to recover and use. Only the few unusual Shaltszs, who by some quirk of character didn't like travels that much, stayed to man some of those buildings.

As centuries passed, Shaltszs maintained their erratic development, mainly focusing on transporting or communication technology. Although their stop-and-go decentralized type of research makes it rather hard to date important discoveries, it seems that steam power was discovered in their 15th century, steam-powered engines being common in their 16th century; flying machines and the use radio waves were already well spread in their early 1900s. Space age started in 2000, when ion drives were discovered and allowed the Shaltszs to bring their love of wander into their star system. Although the system was soon fully mapped, colonization was very slow since settlements or terraforming attempts were often started but seldom finished in time to be effective. By the beginning of 2200 however, the Shaltszs had fully claimed the two other inhabitable tellurian planets of their system, and the first impulse-powered starships were launched. An extensive communication and computer grid had also been progressively assembled, allowing the Shaltszs to stay in touch with almost any other member of the species.

The first recorded use of warp drive dates back to the 2250s, although warp 4-capable ships appeared only around 2310, allowing the Shaltszs to reach other systems. Infrequent contacts with various traders or explorers hade already made them aware of other life forms; their home planet being relatively poor in resources, they were never of much interest for potential invaders, and so had a rather optimistic view of aliens. Since then, the Shaltszs have been slowly spreading through their sector, either in their own starships or merging with other crews. The lack of any central government has so far prevented any official diplomatic contact with another galactic power.

CULTURE: A Shaltszs seems to be restless; apart from during his sleep, a Shaltszs will always be in action, be it working, moving or speaking, and constantly changing focus. To an outsider, a Shaltszs seems to be rushing around, doing a little of a lot of different things. This appears also in their speech patterns: a Shaltszs often jumps randomly from one subject to another, before getting back to his initial subject at the precise point he left it.
Shaltszs constantly need to be in action or trying something new. They enjoy company, but can also be quite autonomous. Shaltszs are friendly with anyone they meet and always eager to meet new people; they can also bind strong ties with a few individuals, but this is mostly noticeable when they are separated for some time, as Shaltszs make a point to keep in touch and remember people they care most about.
Because of their ever-changing moods, the Shaltszs have no concept of marriage, as they tend to switch partners or love interests as frequently as their attention span changes. However, they take a particular care in the raising of their children: both parents will take care of their progeny even if their relationship has long ago ended; a Shaltszs will never move away from his or her children without being sure that either the other parent or a close friend will be able to take care of them. A Shaltszs is considered to reach maturity between 5 and 10 years, after which the parents end their commitment, but try to keep in touch with them for the rest of their lives. Thus, a Shaltszs can have a rather extended network of relatives amongst the various groups he has been part of. This is as close to the concept of family Shaltszs can get.

Because of their nomadic nature, Shaltszs have a very loose concept of personal possessions. They tend to assume that, if something is left unused for some time (be it a tool, a house or a starship), then it's free to be borrowed. Conversely, they discard without thinking anything they don't use anymore, knowing someone will eventually need it. A Shaltszs will keep with him at all times the goods he really considers personal, which are mostly objects of an emotional value (like a gift from an old friend or his first tool); thus, a very old or sentimental Shaltszs will carry around a rather impressive number of various trinkets and apparent junk.
Shaltszs often went into a lot of trouble in their early relationships with other species, because of their tendency to borrow almost anything without asking; however, their always curious mind allowed them to adapt, at least partially, to this "propriety thing".

Since Shaltszs always need to be in action, they don't care much about leisure activities; a Shaltszs needing to relax will be doing some sport, game, or take part in a fast-paced holonovel. Reading a book or listening to music or poetry will bear only the minimal interest to them, and can turn to a real torture if they are forced to endure it without the possibility of doing something else. Even when reading technical specifications to learn how to work something, a Shaltszs needs to wander a bit between two reading sessions.
Off-world Shaltszs are usually enthusiastic and curious about any other culture they encounter. They are ready to try almost anything, be it a new food, sport, activity or research. They are also ready to be integrated into a larger group, even when they are the only one of their kind, and eager to serve the group's interests. Shaltszs usually leave a group only when they grow really bored, feel useless, or disagree too much with its leaders.

LANGUAGE & NAMES: Due to their constant travels and intercommunications, Shaltszs have almost always been speaking the same language, the Ishaltszis. However, almost every Shaltszs tends to add his own expressions and words, making it an extremely rich language. It's not uncommon to have a few dozen different words for the same concept, and the improvement of computer technology only made this worse, as the Shaltszs now record any change they make to their language, and frequently dig among their extensive database to resurrect old expressions. Ishaltszis is a very sibilant language, which can look to the untrained ear as nothing more than an unending procession of "sh" and "ts" sounds.
Shaltszs have one name, equally rich in sibilants, as Stasstsch, Shotzsa, or Iptchsi, and one nickname, usually coined by the group they're currently part of. Shaltszs are proud of their successive nicknames, and on particular occasions, they present themselves enunciating the full list of them (which, to an outsider, mostly sounds like a lengthy imitation of a beer can being opened). Among aliens, Shaltszs usually adopt a nickname more familiar sounding to the current group they belong to, even if it means they in turn have difficulty pronouncing it themselves.

RELIGION: Shaltszs religion is based on the worshipping of light as the source of all life (some legends held that the Shaltszs were born of the play of light on water), and is based on contemplation and inner meditation. Shaltszs don't gather for celebrations nor have a clergy, but frequently offer a quick prayer or engage in a short meditation. Prayers are considered a very personal thing, and Shaltszs aren't used to discuss it with one another apart from when teaching it to their children: each Shaltszs lives his religion as he wishes. A Shaltszs seldom fails to offer a short prayer when in presence of a strong natural light source (be it a sunrise or a nova seen on a sensor).
Shaltszs had much trouble adjusting to other species religious customs, like public services, and still avoid temples and religious gatherings. Similarly, a Shaltszs will consider very rude to be disturbed during a prayer.

FAVORED PROFESSIONS:
Starship officer: To a Shaltszs, roaming the infinite space aboard a starship seems a dream come true. Since the advent of spaceflight, Shaltszs have been traveling through space, be it alone in small, often self-built starships, or part of a bigger crew. If they are not alone onboard, Shaltszs will favor posts that seldom leave them unoccupied, like Engineers or Science officers.
Rogue: The Shaltszs' very loose concept of possession made them natural, if involuntary, thieves when they started to interact with other civilizations. However, some of them kept their ways even when learning that they were considered unlawful by others, though most of them do it for fun or challenge rather than profit.
Merchant: Another profession that allows the Shaltszs to travel at will around the galaxy, and meet lots of different people and engage in various jobs.
Scientist: Shaltszs can make surprisingly good scientists, their ever-active mind allowing them to envision possibilities that other would consider foolish and unproductive. They seldom specialize in any area, thus preventing them to become experts in a given domain, but can become skilled in a very varied sample of disciplines.

SPECIES ADJUSTMENTS: -1 Strength, +1 Agility. Despite their bulk, the Shaltszs are not a very strong species, mainly because of the weaker gravity they're used to. Their hyperactive physiology and their constant moving around make them a bit faster.

SPECIES ABILITIES:
Hyperactive: Because of their shorter biorhythm, the Shaltszs have a shorter reaction time than most humanoids. They receive a +2 Quickness bonus.
Faster biorhythm: The Shaltszs tire and recover twice as fast as other humanoids. All durations used in regard of fatigue (be it the time needed to recover or the time after which they grow tired) must be halved.
Light tolerance: The Shaltszs are used to a very bright sun, and will seldom need sunglasses (or protective gear). They are harder to blind with light, but don't see well in the dark. All penalties due to poor light conditions must be doubled, but penalties because of an excessive brightness must be halved. They also get a bonus on Stamina tests to resist damage done to the eye by an intense light, like a laser beam in the pupil or staring at an UV lamp.
Compulsive multitasking: Shaltszs find it hard to concentrate on a single task for a long period of time, but they love to be doing multiple tasks. They work better if they have multiple things to do at once (of course, it takes them longer to finish a given task). During an extended test, a Shaltszs receive a +1 TN penalty for every consecutive attempt of the same task. On the other hand, Shaltszs get a -1 TN bonus for every other extended task they partake between two attempts of the same task. For instance, a Shaltszs is trying to fix the warp core, which is an extended test, with each test at TN 15. If that's the only task he does, he'll rolls the first test at TN 15, then the next at TN 16, then TN 17, and so on. If he decides to alternate each attempt with an attempt from another extended task, like improving the computer system (an extended test with tests at TN 20), he'll roll to fix the warp core at TN 15, then work on the computer at TN 19, then TN 14 when he resumes working on the warp core, and keep these TN as long as he keeps switching his attempts. If he adds a third task, he'll gain a -2 modifier instead on all three tasks attempts. This can be useful if the Shaltszs has many tasks to do at once, but problematic if one of them must be completed in priority (warp cores usually don't wait for the computer to be upgraded before blowing up…).
Skilled: Like the Human species ability. Shaltszs are used to acquire multiple skills as they wish or need it.
Cultural Flexibility (Edge): Shaltszs are used to meeting a lot of different cultures in the course of their lives, and having to integrate them.
Linguistic Facility: Because of their extremely rich language, the Shaltszs tend to grasp foreign languages more quickly. They only pay half the pick costs for learning a new language (i.e. the first rank of a new non professional language skill costs them 1 pick instead of 2, and the two first ranks cost 1 pick if the language is a professional skill). The following ranks cost the normal price (i.e. 2 picks for non professional skills or 1 pick for professional skills).

Would this species have a shorter then average lifespan? What are the effects of old age on this species? Any species specific ailgments? Due to an a need to walk long distances, would this species have a naturaly increased motabilism? What are the effects of not walking for long periods of time? Would there be an increased amount of lower body ailgments early in life in these species? Since they live on a lower then average gravity world, wouldn't they be impacted on normal or greater then normal gravities? If they continued to move around alot, how were they able to, at the same pace, reach the same techonology level . . . what technologies are they deficient in? How were they able to amass the constant and group necessary effort to make spaceflight, or flight in general, possible?

Its like the question of cetceans an the lack of opposible thumbs.

I rather like this, very nice work!

I do agree with some of the stuff JalU3 has posed.. I can't see them becoming as advanced as Humans, as quickly. the lack of any kind of mass production would be inhibiting to produce the kinds of components needed for space flight: I mean a microchip facility?! :)

I suspect their development rate was much slower, and in all reality they would have had to develop cities, of some kind, even if individuals don't stay in them long, because some locations are much better for certain things! I.e. a large ore deposit, would result in huge quantities of mines, which in turn need housing, and markets, and foundries, and craftsmen, etc etc etc... Even if people only stayed on for a few years, when populations start reaching over 10,000 it's a stable society!

While I can see these guys quite well suited to the life of a privateer, in all honesty, I can barelly imagine one passing Starfleet's course! Staying in the same campus for 3 years, and turning up without any formal qualification?! :) Still they could be a Non-com, or just be very a-typical for their kind! :)

Thanks for your interests, guys!

I'll try to answer to some of your points :

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Originally Posted by JALU3

Would this species have a shorter then average lifespan? What are the effects of old age on this species? Any species specific ailments?

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They do, as living 70 years for a Shaltszs is like a Human living 120 years. Age has roughly the same effect on them as it has on other species. I had no idea for specific ailments, but they can be added as needed ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JALU3

Due to an a need to walk long distances, would this species have a naturaly increased metabilism? What are the effects of not walking for long periods of time? Would there be an increased amount of lower body ailments early in life in these species?

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The idea was that they really love a nomadic way of life. However, since technology (or riding) allowed them to move around without the need of walking, this has not much more effect on the development of the species than the first human nomadic ways had.
Walking is not quite a necessity to them; however, being denied the possibility to change their environment (be it by travelling or doing something new) can be extremely depressing to them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JALU3

Since they live on a lower then average gravity world, wouldn't they be impacted on normal or greater then normal gravities?

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They do, hence the -1 Strength modifier.


Now, about the technology :
The idea is that the Shaltszs put a lot of emphasis on travels and communication technology. Everything else can be as far as one century behind (for instance, they could very well be still using gunpowder weapons and have many diseases they don't know how to heal properly).

Reaching a 19th-century Earth tech level doesn't need a lot of pre-requisites IMHO (I'm taking example here from the Wright brothers who, as far as I know, started a lot of their research on flight from scratch). Hence, having the Shaltszs using flying machines rather early in their development doesn't seem incoherent to me (of course, their flying machines took much more than a century to go from kites to 747s...).

As for space age, I see most of the spaceships being very much like Cochrane's Phoenix : a ragtag fleet of ships cobbled together by a group of talented enthusiasts, with no particular cohesion. Space age certainly featured a lot of tragic heroes...

I agree though that the time between the advent of Warp and and the appearance of Warp 4-capable ships is a bit too short. I may change it or mention that this was thanks to some cooperation with other species.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tobian

While I can see these guys quite well suited to the life of a privateer, in all honesty, I can barelly imagine one passing Starfleet's course! Staying in the same campus for 3 years, and turning up without any formal qualification?!

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Of course, I don't see a standard Shaltszs staying for long in any military. A Starfleet Shaltszs could be either an enlisted crewmember or a very unusual one.
However, I think a rather loose chain of command (like the one if the Merchant Marine ;)) could be rather well tolerated.

Anyway, thanks for the comments, keep them coming ! :)

Erm, with regards to the development of warp flight, I think you are missing a few key things... gathering together a bunch of old junk to make a spaceship still requires a bunch of old junk to me made in the first place! a sheet of corrugated metal consists of the fact you have a massive machine which presses out uniform sheets of metal, then coats it with zinc... this in turns means you need huge foundries to smelt iron, massive mines, to get the ore, and a means of moving round all that material to where it's needed!

The fact the Wright brothers were able to put their planes together with relative ease is testament to mass production... the fact the could buy consistent mass produced materials, manufactured to tolerances, and in uniform sizes, and they could just go and buy an engine! An engine, ho boy, you've got layers of science, technology, refinement and mass production there, and a consistent fuel source.

We stand on the shoulders of giants, and the reason we can do so many things today is because of massive settled infrastructure and agreed standards. Think about it.. what amount of infrastructure went into the fact you can just drive into a petrol station and buy a few litres of petrol... There are oil rigs, massive tankers, refineries as big as small cities, transportation infrastructure, and masses of science and research, to make it all convenient. It is the convenience we have built in to our world which gives us the ability to innovate, and build on it.

Think about this... There are programmes like 'scrapheap challenge' where contestants have to build working machines from old junk.. but that's the thing, that 'old junk' is just unwanted and unused incredibly refined machined and processed materials... You couldn't do scrapheap challenge from a rubbish tip from a medieval society! "I shall take these 3 old rotten cabbages, and this old broom handle, and construct a working piston!" :D

Zephram Cochrane made a working warp ship out of components which were lying round... because that included a missile silo, a MISSILE, massive amounts of computer technology and materials science which could be found 'lying around' in that era. Leonardo Da'Vinci conceived of amazing things, flying machines, tanks, motor vehicles, etc. but other than mock up models, he couldn't build them, because the materials he needed did not exist. Had he been able to drive down to his local hardware store and bought a few sheets of plywood, rolls of wire, nuts, screws, and an old engine, sure, he could have made a working plane, but those 'simple' and 'common' things would have all involved a herculean effort for a man to invent, manufacture and refine, on his own, for it to have been impossible to concieve of it, let alone build! We take a lot for granted in the modern world!

Maybe the cities stayed put, but the people didn't... timeshare civilisation?

This would mean that there would have to be alot of information and knowledge sharing, unless they are especially adapted to learn by watching or learn by doing types of learning. And even then, if they are unable to maintain said abilities, or find some way to store, retain, and pass along said knowledge . . . even if you have a modern day genious in the post roman dark ages, if there is no ability, to write the knowledge, safely store said knowledge, and to teach said knowledge . . . the knowledge in question is more then easily lost.

Although I am not saying that it is impossible, we are saying, that it may take a lot lot longer to get to a certain point in technology.

Furthermore, whatabout specialization of skills. Think about a modern society, the reason why societies are able to build upon themselves is because there is a succession of skills that are passed down from generation to generation. Furthermore, as skills become more common place, those skills can be specialized into new branches to create their own skill sets, which will develop from new technologies and systems. Thus allowing a society to progress overtime. Without this, skills will stagnate or will deteriate overtime, and lost skills that were once essential will have to be relearned. For instance think about the support network necessary to support on airplane pilot . . . or one modern day sailor on a guided missile cruiser. Seriously think about it. This is games like the six degrees to Kevin Bacon are feasible. For instance, I can say I am three degrees to the current president of the United States.

Myself -----> FMR California Secretary of State Bill Simon (due to a former job, due to a congradulatory meeting for my section) -----> California Governor Schwarzenegger -----> POTUS George W. Bush

But to actually play the game with myself:
Myself -----> Matt Groening (ran into him, literally, at a ComicCon) -----> James Earl Jones (in Treehouse of Horror V) -----> Kevin Cousner (in Field of Dreams) ------> w/ Kevin Bacon (in JFK)

But this is straying off the topic.

However, the skill sets of each of those persons listed are widely different from the other.

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Please excuse my ramblings . . . I had just finished a 12 hour shift when I posted this . . . or was I in the middle of it . . . either way . . . I could have sworn that I had something more important to say . . . and it appears that Tobian hit on it . . . but I must have been to gone to make it a coherent thought.

Well this is it: In the classical world (ancient Greece and Rome) At the height of their civilisation it was possible to know almost all knowable things! Art, history, Philosiphy, science, tactics, culture, geography... Most 'scholars' knew all their world had to offer, because there simply was not as much to know, and the information was incredibly shallow, compared to knowledge today. No one in our age could know the tiniest fraction of a percentage of the sum knowledge of man, because there is simply too much to know. Because a man is a genius he will know more (generally) than anyone else, and may have an amazing affinity at many things, but that doesn't give him knowledge: What did Einstein know about Geology, geography or religious practices of the ancient aztecs? Precious little I suspect! The ability to specialise is the modern worlds tool for our own advancement, because when something is as complex as Space travel, or mapping even the tiniest fragment of DNA requires a lifetime to master. A modern Doctor is (typically) the most educated person in society, and most doctors graduate with only a tiny fraction of the knowledge they need, and have to research the rest, as and when they ever come across it.

I love the idea of imagining other worlds, a different place, where life is so much more different than it is here, but knowing what we do about our world makes it hard to imagine a culture becoming like us without the pain we have had to go through, the effort and the singular mindedness to move forward. It is a function of the modern world, and in fact Human civilisation, in plenty of areas, never really made much more progress than the stone age, because 'progress' is not a function of survival or evolution.

it reminds me of the idyllic, romantic ideals of the 17th century of agrarian society: Constable and Turner pictures, showing beautiful pastoral landscapes, when the reality, in their era was a hell of a lot harsher, and in the next hundred years got a lot worse, workhouses, poverty, unemployment, hard, backbreaking labour and slavery. To me it would make far more sense if that was simply the 'ideal' of their society, and perhaps in the 'advanced' age is something more and more they are returning too (as is the gloss of utopia in Star Trek), but perhaps they have a darker underbelly of the downsides of advances in science and technology, if not all of them!

Hm. Psionic skill-sharing? Some sort of hyper-specialized super-language, which is designed to convey knowledge of what to do to make a thing function along with understanding of how and why it functions? A progenitor-civilisation of non-nomads who made the language and tools, but which was destroyed, leaving their nomadic descendants to utilize their advanced computer-thingumies in lieu of a lifetime of training and knowledge?

Or, you could just change the backstory and have them contacted by, say, the Tellarites or whatever who just provided them with warp drive.

"Never give coffee to a Shaltszs" - Quote of unknown origin. :D

A thought, why have them develop their own hi-tech? If they was the first species encountered by some early warp explorers, they could have jumped from a low-tech society to hi-tech in a very short time. And while they still not have their own warp technology, several of them could have been taking passage on ships from other space faring societies. :)

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Originally Posted by Cpt. Lundgren

"Never give coffee to a Shaltszs" - Quote of unknown origin. :D

A thought, why have them develop their own hi-tech? If they was the first species encountered by some early warp explorers, they could have jumped from a low-tech society to hi-tech in a very short time. And while they still not have their own warp technology, several of them could have been taking passage on ships from other space faring societies. :)

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However, we have seen the adverse effects that a society who has not earned their level of technology has on their own society, and other intellegent species that happen to interact with them. For instance . . . what if neandrathilic man was given those emergency thermal blankets . . . even if they were given them . . . would they know how to reproduce them . . . would they be able to backward engineer the objects to make new ones . . . would they have the resources and the technological abilities to make those new items. Therefore, after reasonable wear on the object they would all be worn away, to be lost in some trash heap that may not be discovered for hundreds of thousands of years. And thus have no real impact on that group.

Or say a group of Spartans were given 1861 Springfield rifles . . . imagine the impact that it would have if they were able to back-engineer the rifles in the ancient world. Granted reproductions may not be as sofisticated . . . but they would still be able to serve the same purpose. In the right hands, they could bring peace to a region, in the wrong hands they can bring devistation.

Or imagine what would happen if wood fired steam engines were introduced to a wood rich, but overpopulated region . . . without ever discovering forest management of conservation . . . they would reduce the local ecosystem to wide plains.

Or lets look at the episode where Data lost his memory, and the radioactive material was introduced into the renissaunce style world . . . imagine the devestating effects that the unknown future tech had brought to their world.

Without background . . . knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

So how 'bout the shaltzszsz get new technology from some otherwise-benign force (assuming we want to preserve their optimism concerning aliens) and then destroy their world, forcing them into becoming space-nomads?

I'll keep on spinning a little with my low-tech to hi-tech leap. But as it is C5's species and Sea Tyger's game, it is just a collection of semi-random thoughts and some rambling... :)

Say that they, before the contact, where an early bronze age, oral-tradition, nomadic, with a proto-alphabet. They seems to be Nomadic at heart, so they don't need a reason to travel, but an opportunity. Greed and ambition doesn't seem to strike high on their agenda. Their curious mentality would work well in getting a good contact with the team of explorers and scientists from the other star system. As it is the first contact the other species does, they build a strong contact and are completely unaware of the long term risks.

Some benefits with the new technology.
* Hi-tech Agriculture - less effort to provide the food needed. More time available to be spent elsewhere.
* Vehicles - The possibility to go further and to places that have been impossible before.
* Tools - Makes things simpler and faster
* Better clothes - Possible to live in environment that wasn't manageable before.
* PDA's - Possibility to record and share information in a very simple way (I image this one as an extremely chaotic version of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but without the friendly letters "Don't Panic" on the cover).
* Medicine - Things that was life threatening before becomes harmless

Now, the backside of the coin.
* Population increases at an exploding rate
* Contact with off-landers are not always smooth ("I am sorry your honor, I am not familiar with the word theft that you are referring to. But it is correct that I took the shuttle. No, your honor, nobody was using it and there where several other shuttles there. No, I handed it over to a Ferengi. On his comment on how nice the shuttle looked to him, I informed him that I didn't had any further use of it. He asked if there was something I wanted and I told him that a compass and some food would be helpful. I must say that the comments about Ferengis are not accurate. At least about this gentleman, as he gave me a compass and food without any charge. Excuse me, your honor. But what is this jail that you are referring to?")
* Friction between the scientists and engineers on one side, that considers the agriculture a good thing as it provides them the possibility to spend time on science and technology, and on the other hand there is the environmentalists ,that has the opinion that the farms are destroying the landscape and ecosystem, and traditionalists that believes that the old knowledge will be lost, fossilized in a piece of plastic (and that food should be a chore to come by).
* The PDA's, while containing the collective knowledge of the species, it is still not much more than a mountain of postit notes. It wasn't any problem at the beginning, but the amount of notes have made it nearly impossible to find any information of relevance. There have turned up a couple of solutions on how to structure the information, but as none is optimal, different factions are arguing and ranting about which solution that should be used. As it is a subject that is important to everyone, and it isn't possible to just walk away from the discussion, as it isn't taking place at a physical location, it is a pressure boiler. It is a possibility that this will lead to the first war on the planet.

A lot of who your first contact is with, not just the first person to make the contact, but the nature of the sentient (or non-sentient) species that makes the first contact. For instance . . . lets look at the Klingons. They were naturally hunters and very clanists . . . however, due to the Hurqs this had a drastic effect on the evolution of their culture. Therefore whenever they meet a new species they may appear to be very hostile from the get go . . . and may feel, as they are tought . . . being in a dominate position is to be in a safe position. Were as other species may have learned through their initial contacts . . . that being closely alligned with more advanced species end up being very benificial, while providing them protection.

Another thing about technology, lets not forget that not all advances that appear to be a golden bullet for a problem is not without their adverse side effect. Example Ethonal . . . bantered about as a medium term solution to a petro addicted energy infastructure. However, due to how it is made, it has caused more petro heavy hardware to produce, and has come in direct competition to food production thus increasing cost of certain food stuffs, and reducing the stock of other food stuffs.

For instance . . . lets say that advances were provide to an emissary friendship capsule or something like that . . . from a long away species . . . who only ment to do good. May have provided examples, explinations, and how to guides for certain gifts provided within it.
Say their was a grain which was very easy to grow, had a high nutrition content, a high caloric content, good cholesteral, good tasting, et cetra, et cetra. However, say it grows so well that it stiffles natural grains whcih upsets the balances of several planetary important ecosystems . . . causing to additional adverse effects.
Or say a benifical virus was introduced that was airborne and over several tens of hundres of generations created, for all intensive purposes, created a sterile planetary environment . . . however, after those hundreds of generations itself becomes benign . . . thus causing a species which for several dozen generations has not had to deal with bacrobial or viral infections.

I thank you all for your constructive inputs. I've had a rather busy week-end and an even more busy week ahead, but I'll do my best to come back here and integrate some of your points into the Shaltszs background, but I need some more time to mull them over.
I'll probably have to expand on their first contacts, as you managed to convince me it'd have been hard for such a species to discover Warp drive by themselves.

In the meantime, don't hesitate to keep the good ideas coming :)